#CONGRESS DILEMMA ON AAM AADMI PARTY

The
Congress is busy tying up alliances or #seat sharing deals with other political
parties in the states, where it is not strong, but is in two minds on an
alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. #Arvind
Kejriwal’s AAP, which is ruling the NCT, has indicated its interest in entering
into an alliance with the Congress for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, both
formally and informally. But the move has not made any headway because of the
opposition of Congress leaders in the National Capital Territory to the idea.

Delhi
Congress President #Sheila Dikshit announced on Tuesday, March 5, after meeting
Congress President Rahul Gandhi that it had been unanimously decided not to
have an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party.

The
Congress decided to spurn the overtures from the Aam Aadmi Party for an
alliance despite the fact that the combined vote share of the two parties would
have been enough to defeat the BJP in six out of the seven Lok Sabha seats from
Delhi. The party also perhaps knows that without a major shift in voter
preferences, which is unlikely, it stands very little chance of defeating the
BJP in Delhi and winning even one or two
Lok Sabha seats of the total seven.

The
Aam Aadmi Party’s compulsions for reaching out to the Congress are understandable.
The party no doubt won 67 out of the total 70 seats in the Assembly elections
held in 2015. But in the Lok Sabha elections held in 2014, the party had not
won even one seat and the BJP had swept the polls in the National Capital
Territory.

The
BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party were the major beneficiaries of the movement
launched during the last two years of the #UPA government headed by Dr. Manmohan
Singh against the alleged corruption of the Congress led government. While the
gains for the BJP came from most of the northern and western states, the Aam
Aadmi Party found resonance only in the National Capital Territory of Delhi to
a large extent, and in Punjab to a smaller extent. The only Lok Sabha seats, which the Aam Aadmi Party won in the
2014 elections, were in Punjab. It bagged four of the total 13 seats in the
state.

The
question arises why the Congress does not favour an alliance or seat sharing
deal with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, when it is likely to benefit both the
parties. Also, denying an edge to the BJP in Delhi would have helped in achieving
the overall objective of ridding the country of the Narendra Modi led BJP dispensation.
After all, this is the main plank of the so called #MAHAGATHBANDHAN ornational
opposition alliance, for which both the Congress and major regional outfits
have been working in the last year or so.

It
is apparent that the Congress thinks that the long term adverse impact will
outweigh short term gains of an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. The
Congress, in an alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal led AAP may win one or two #Lok
Sabha seats from Delhi. But this will also help the Aam Aadmi Party to move
towards its ultimate objective of becoming an all India level party.

It
is also likely that in return for an alliance or seat sharing deal in Delhi,
the Aam Aadmi Party would have insisted upon having an arrangement also in states like Punjab, Haryana
and Goa. Except for Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party has no presence on the ground
in these states. Any gain for the Congress in Delhi would have been outweighed
by the concessions it would have to make elsewhere.

It
is significant that the Congress has a rejected seat sharing deal with the Aam
Aadmi Party in Delhi despite pressure from its allies elsewhere. There are
reports that the #Nationalist Congress Party headed by Mr. #Sharad Pawar and
even the #Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister #Mamata
Banerjee have been asking the Congress to consider allying with state outfits
to defeat the BJP. In reference to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the NCP has said
that the Congress should consider its electoral power while approaching the
alliance issue. The NCP has said that it favours formation of “pragmatic”
anti-BJP alliances in these states.

It
is possible that in the next few weeks, there may be more confabulations among
the Congress and other opposition parties on the strategy to take on the
Narendra Modi led BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. It would be interesting
to see if the Congress agrees to modify its stance vis-à-vis the Aam Aadmi
Party in Delhi.

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